


you'll never have to face too much (alone)

by BYUNNlE



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Falling In Love, First Dates, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Slice of Life, taeyong is a softie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 12:11:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19887547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BYUNNlE/pseuds/BYUNNlE
Summary: taeyong only wanted to help his friend, but he might have also found what he never knew he was looking for





	you'll never have to face too much (alone)

Taeyong sighed for, what seemed like, a hundredth time that evening, checking his phone at the same time. The lockscreen showed it was 7:56 pm, meaning he still had four more minutes to go and yet,his nervousness was on its peak. For some brief seconds, he contemplated just standing up and running away to the safety of his small apartment where he would be able to bury himself in his bed and spent there the whole weekend. It was such a tempting thought, but he managed to shake it out of his head somehow. He didn’t want to be that person. 

Still, he cursed himself mentally for being that good of a friend to Doyoung. His roommate, who also happened to be his best friend of ten years, came home one day looking kind of excided and expectant. Taeyong didn’t have to wait long to find out the reason behind it, because the younger boy clinged to him instantly, whining about how Taeyong absolutely needed to help him out. 

Apparently, Jungwoo,on whom Doyoung had the most hopeless crush Taeyong had ever witnessed,was looking for someone to set up his own friend with.  
From what he was able to catch between the taller's desperate groans,  
he believed that Jungwoo would finally look at him in a different light if he did him a favor. And for that,he needed Taeyong's help.  
Doyoung wanted him go on a date with that mystery man he had never even heard of. At first, he thought he misheard him, but, unfortunately, his friend was deadly serious and had that pleading look in his eyes he got only when he cared deeply about something.

Initially, Taeyong wanted to say 'no'. Those types of things didn’t really belong to his specialities. He didn’t necessarily find himself as a people's person. Sure, he had friends, close friends who he adored with all his heart, he was even in a relationship while still in high school. But, truth to be told, social events scared the shit out of him, and meeting someone new was definitely on the top of the list. It just tended to make him so stressed and act unnaturally he prefered to avoid them at all costs.  
But he knew refusing to Doyoung would feel like kicking a puppy, and he could never do that. 

And that’s how he ended up in that situation, currently regreting every choice he had ever made. Why did he have to be so considerate? Screw him and his soft heart.  
Just when he was about to text his friend that he couldn’t do it, suddenly a small bell located over the front door rung gently, signaling the entrance of a new customer. Taeyong instinctively lifted his head to look in that direction, and immediately froze in his tracks. 

Some tall, well-built guy came inside and searched around, clearly looking for someone, concetrated expression on his face and Taeyong felt like crawling under the table. He didn’t exactly understand how he was so sure that stranger was the one he had to meet,he had never even seen his picture. Anyway,his assumptions proved to be correct when said man noticed him in the crowd and started to walk his way. His heart began to beat faster and faster in his chest and his head went spinning a little.  
He took one more, deep breath before bracing himself for what was to come.

A few seconds later, there was the most beautiful human being standing in front of him.  
It wasn’t even an exagerration. Taeyong blinked once, twice, trying to confirm he wasn’t dreaming and imagining things because that man was absolutely the most breath-taking person he ever had an honor to see (and he was friends with Ten, it really said something).

He wasn’t sure how long he was staring at the other male, but he realized it was creepy as fuck.  
Congrats, you've already made an idiot out of yourself, his head yelled at him and he felt his whole face turning hot. It was going to be a long night.

Fortunately, the guy didn’t seem to be pissed or grossed out, cause that was the last thing Taeyong wanteded to happen before even getting to know each other. If something, he looked kind of satisfied, small smug smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.  
‘You’re Taeyong, right?.He asked, and, holy shit, his voice was so deep and melodic and it already felt like too much.

Taeyong didn’t really trust his voice right now, so he just nodded. It was lame and probably made him look like a freak, but, thankfully, the hot man didn’t mind. He took a seat across Taeyong smiling gently,and, oh my god,he had the most adorable dimples to exist. He blushed heavily, caught off guard by his own thoughts.

‘I’m Jaehyun,but you probably know that already'

Well, he didn’t. Doyoung clearly forgot to tell him even the most basic things about his date, and he didn’t bother asking, either.

'Yeah,nice to meet you’, he managed to get out instead, his voice sounding weird in his ears.  
Jaehyun just sent him a warm look and Taeyong adjused his eyes to look at him properly. 

If he first decided he was handsome, now he saw it didn’t really give him enough enough justice. That guy was absolutely stunning, with his soft, yet firm features, he reminded him of some kind of ancient sculpture with its perfect structure. His eyes were also gentle, sparkling so much Taeyong had hard time tearing his gaze off of them. Not to mention those pretty, plump lips. In conclusion, Jaehyun was a work of art and he found himself getting more and more flustered.

It was weird. Since he first found out he was set up on a date, Taeyong didn’t really think about it. He had much enough to do without it, balancing between his studies, dance classes and part-time job. Being romantically involved with someone wasn’t what he would call essential right now, still, he would do everything for Doyoung (even if he was a dick sometimes).

But then, he actually felt something for the first time. Nothing like fluttering heart or butterflies, more like something building up in the pit of his stomach. Excitement, maybe?  
Again, it was strange. Why was it like that?

Before he had the chance to dwell on it some more, the waitress came to take their orders and Taeyong got something to busy himself with.  
Sadly, it lasted only around two minutes, and when she left, he felt his breath being kicked out of his lungs again.

'You know what, I didn't really believe Jungwoo when he told me I've got a date. And certainly, not with someone as pretty as you'

Taeyong could swear he had never feel so hot before. Damn, Jaehyun surely got a way with words.

‘Please’,he rolled his eyes. ‘Have you ever seen yourself in a mirror or something? You’re not the one  
to talk.’

He finally worked up the courage to actually take part in their conversation, and, if the amused look in the other's eyes was enough of a sign, he wasn’t doing completely tragic job.

'Like what you see?’, Jaehyun playfully rolled his eyes and wiggled his brows.

'Don't give yourself so much credit', Taeyong only responded, as casually as he could, even if he wanted to scream that yes, he liked it very much.

The other male placed both his hands over his chest in a dramatic gesture. ‘Woah, that hurt. I can see now why you're almost inseparable with Doyoung'

At that, Taeyong laughed, for the first time that evening.

'Believe me, you wouldn’t want to confront him. He might look like a cute bunny, but he can be terrifying at times.’

Jaehyun giggled, and Taeyong melted inside a little. That was no doubts the cutest sound he had ever heard.

‘God, tell me about it. Woo is just the same, even though no one ever believes it'

At the mention of the familiar name, Taeyong suddenly thought of something, and decided to voice it out immediately.

‘It was him who set you up, wasn’t it?’. Jaehyun nodded his head, so he decided to continue. ‘Why is that? Did he think you can’t handle it on your own?’

Obviously, he said it as a joke, laughter clearly audible in his voice. But, one look at his date's face and his freshly found courage seemed to have dissapeared.

The brown haired man was looking down, examining the facture of the table like it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen. His shoulders slumped down a bit and Taeyong felt himself becoming anxious again.

‘I’m sorry-',he started but Jaehyun just shook his head, smilling delicately.

'No, no, it’s okay, dont worry', he assured, looking into Taeyong's eyes to let him know he really meant it. ‘I went through really tough break-up.It was- not something I would recommend',he laugh dryly before speaking again.

‘It’s been almost half a year now, but I still haven't really gotten over it completely. Sure, it’s way better than before, when I couldn’t even bring myself to get out of the bed'

Taeyong bit his lip, hard. He felt like such a jerk for even bringing up this topic. However, he didn’t interrupt, paying attention to every word said by Jaehyun.

‘Two weeks ago, it would have been our third anniversary',he almost whispered, playing with his fingers. ‘And I did the first thing to ease the pain I could think of. I got drunk. The worst I've ever been. I broke down on the club's bathroom floor and some random girl had to call Jungwoo, she found his number in my phone.  
He came ten minutes after, even though it was on the other side of the city. I honestly don't know how I got there', he chuckled, as if he was telling the funniest story he knew.

‘He carried me to his car, cause I was nearly passed-out. Then, when we arrived at our apartment, he rubbed my back when I was throwing up for good two hours, gave me water and tucked in bed with me, while I was literally crying my eyes out because of Johnny', the ex's name, Taeyong supposed.

‘When I woke up the next morning, I felt like I was going to die. Everything hurt and I was literally the shade of a man. I couldn’t remember everything, but I pretty much recalled what happened.  
Woo was taking care of me for a whole day, forcing me to take pain-killers and hydrate and I seriously couldn’t have been more grateful for him', the corners of his lips went slightly upwards at that thought, his expression turning fond for a moment.

‘But I could see something was off. He wasn’t himself and I was afraid he was pissed at me for what I pulled the previous night.  
But, as it turned out, it wasn’t like that.’

‘So you asked him what was wrong?,' Taeyong asked, somewhat interested now. He still felt guilty for provoking such confessions out of Jaehyun when they had meet just a few minutes ago. Still, he really wanted to learn how it ended.

‘I did,' Jaehyun confirmed, looking a bit less paler than before. ‘As soon as I finally got enough strenght to at least sit up'

He paused there for a few seconds and Taeyong thought that maybe, he won't get to know the final outcome. He wouldn’t have been mad or anything, the other had already shared so much personal details with him, he didn’t have the right to ask for more.

Nevertheless, Jaehyun seemed to shake out of his thoughts, or anything that was. He looked at Taeyong again, but with some kind of force and emotion in his voice it made his breath cage in his lungs.

‘He wasn’t mad, not even close to it. But it was worse, for sure.  
He was worrying sick, for this whole time. After all, he was the one who had to put up with me, force me to eat, pick my broken pieces after another breakdown.  
He never complained, ever. Was as strong for me as he could'

Taeyong easily found himself and Doyoung in that description. He knew how it was, they went through it enough times.

'But then, it was the first time in these six months when he just couldn’t keep it inside. It was his turn to cry then, he was sobbing in my hoodie, talking how he couldn’t bear to see me in such state any longer, that it breaks his heart, that he would do everything to make me smile again,' Jaehyun was looking at the empty space behind Taeyong's head

'Jungwoo is a literal ray of sunshine, I’ve known him since we were little and I can count on one hand the times I saw him like this. But then, he was literally choking on his own tears because he was so sorry for me and didn’t how to help me. That’s when I realized I was so selfish, you know? My suffering became the suffering of my beloved ones and I would never cause him any pain. It was like a sign to me, the moment I understood, I had to move on, if not for me, for every one who loves me'

'Woah,' Taeyong whispered, clearly amazed. He didn’t know what to say. So many emotions tried to take over the control over his body.  
Sadness, because just the image of Jaehyun, vurneable and weak made his stomach twist.  
Relief, because he managed to win with his demons, was strong, considerate and genuine, and his reasoning also proved him to be wise and educated man.

'Yeah,' the brunet laughed quietly at his date's reaction. ‘He told me I have to take care of myself and finally get over it. That’s why he suggested I met someone new'  
Well, it made sense. Taeyong could understand Jungwoo's motives and had a feeling Doyoung would do just the same for him.

'At first, I didn’t want to go. I couldn’t even imagine how it would be like, it’s my first time in more than half of year when I’m in such crowded place. I was like, it’s too fast, I can’t do it. But I saw how important it was to Woo and I didn’t want to break his heart again', Jaehyun ended his story taking a sip of his water, before looking at Taeyong once again.

He looked kind of uneasy, like he was waiting for his reaction and was preparing himself for not a good one.

Taeyong, on the other hand, was speechless. There was so many questions circling inside his head.  
What happened to Jaehyun and his boyfriend? Why did they break up?  
He could see the struggle he had talking about it, so it was easy to notice how hard and harrowing the subject was for him.

But Taeyong already felt like he had invaded the man's privacy, even though, after all, they were still strangers and it definitely wasn’t his place to demand explenations. 

‘I’m really sorry,' he decided to say, going for the safest option, 'I honestly can’t imagine what you went through and I feel so bad because of it. I might not know you the best, but nobody deserves such pain. And I can already see you’re a good person,' it was nothing but honest thoughts he couldn’t keep unsaid, but as soon as he voiced them, he wished he just stayed quiet. It sounded so cheesy, his cheeks were burning.

'So you don’t think I'm a loser or something', Jaehyun cocked his head, self-conciously waiting for a response and Taeyong felt something in his chest.

‘Why would I? If anything, I’m really happy you opened up to me and one thing you should know, it’s that I'll never judge anybody because of what they went through, remember it'

The moment he ended his sentence, the waitress came back carrying their orders and they had to leave their conversation right there, but Taeyong didn’t miss the relieved look in Jaehyun's eyes.

*  
'You didn’t’, Taeyong's mouth hung open causing the younger (as he learned) to chuckle.

‘I did', Jaehyun confirmed, pouring them both another glass of wine. ‘I was young and dumb and thought it would be such a fun. We didn’t expect the cops to appear on an empty beach in the middle of the night, just as we decided to go skinny dripping'

Taeyong couldn’t contain his, rather loud, laughter. ‘I can’t believe it. Sounds like some story from all these sappy teen movies'

He was having a good time. A really good time he would never expect to get out of a blind date.  
A mixture of alcohol and relaxed atmosphere let him forget about his insecurities and made him able to truly enjoy the evening.  
They were talking for hours, about nearly everything. Their families, friends, hobbys, plans for future, dreams.  
Taeyong found out the other was twenty-two, was majoring in business and worked part-time in a café next to his campus.  
The only topic they never returned to was Jaehyun's ex, but he was fine with that.  
They got so lost in each other company, busy wanting to hear as much about the other as possible, that they didn’t even noticed when the time showed it was well past midnight, and they were the only clients left.

He tried to hide his dissapointment when the brunet finally caught how late it had gotten and, with a deep frown, said he had an early shift next morning and they probably should call it a night (he looked almost pitiful saying it)

After small banter over who would foot the bill, won by Jaehyun ('Don't worry, I'd happily get treated the next time', which made Taeyong's heart beat faster), they were standing in front of each other on the side walk outside the restaurant, a really small distance between them.

‘It was the best night I've had in months. Thank you for meeting me', the younger smiled widely, and Taeyong couldn’t stop thinking about how pretty he looked iluminated by the street's lights.

'I had fun myself', he honestly admitted, wrapping his scarf tighter around himself. ‘I’m glad I didn’t say no to Doyoung's nagging', he giggled, and Jaehyun joined him too.

‘You’re sure you don’t want me to walk you home?’, the brunet asked afterwards, kind of breathless.

‘There’s no need. I live literally two minutes away from here'

Jaehyun hummed in response. ‘Okay. So I guess that’s it'

Taeyong nodded, but none of them made a move to leave. He didn’t know how much time had passed, until he heard a quiet 'Can I hug you?’

He agreed maybe a little too enthusiastially, but he didn’t  
care at all, because the next second he was burried in Jaehyun's arms, and gosh, was it nice.  
The smell of his cologne was sweet and gentle, and the comfort of his warmth made him feel really blissful.

'Do you think we can do it again sometime?’,the other whispered in Taeyong's hair, and he couldn’t fight the smile forcing itself on his lips.

'Of course', he mussed mussed back in the curve of his neck.

**Author's Note:**

> hi!!  
> first of all, I'M SO NERVOUS  
> it's my first time posting anything in more than a year, and a second time in general.  
> i suddenly got an idea for this fic in the middle of my nct daily marathon and decided to write it, even though idk if its good at all lmao  
> if you're here, please let me know how you liked it and what you thought of it, i will be so grateful cause i want to know if there's point writing further parts to it.  
> also, im sorry for any mistakes, english is not my first language.  
> okay, im gonna shut up now, love yall uwu  
> oh and the title is from friends by e^st


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